


By His Side

by bluevibes



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Feelings, Fluff, Losers Club (mentioned) - Freeform, M/M, You Have Been Warned, just some, lowkey some angst but, nothing major, there's literally only like two pieces of dialogue so, this is more description than anything else lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 22:30:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21005204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluevibes/pseuds/bluevibes
Summary: In which Richie wakes up from an accidental sleepover with Eddie.(Alternatively: Richie has some Very, Major feelings about Eddie.)





	By His Side

Richie was woken up by the sound of loud shrieking he could hear coming from the hallway. _‘God, college students suck,’_ he thought bitterly, which was a bit ironic since he and six of his closest friends were all college students and he would kill anyone who would insult his friends. But that’s neither here nor there.

And the reason for that is because one Eddie Kaspbrak was currently cuddled up next to Richie. Specifically, Eddie was curled into Richie’s side, with one of his hands resting on Richie’s stomach where it was tightly grasping the material of Richie’s cotton t-shirt, almost as if to keep him there forever. Eddie’s head was also on Richie’s chest, and Richie could feel each breath Eddie took.

There were some moments in his life in which Richie genuinely thought he could handle being in love with his best friend (and yes, he’s well aware of the goddamn cliché that has taken over his life, thank you very much), but then something like this would happen. Something that would cause Richie’s heart to literally twist in on itself, overwhelmed by how much love and fondness was coursing through his body. Something like this happens, and Richie realizes that he’s purely and utterly _fucked_.

He wishes he had the guts to confess to Eds. Bev and Stan and Mike…actually, the entire Losers’ Club, save for Eddie himself, have all told Richie that he’s crazy for not believing that his feelings are reciprocated. _It’s so obvious,_ they all say, _that he loves you_. But Richie just can’t believe it. He can’t believe that Eddie would have any romantic feelings for him because why the fuck would he?

Richie is loud and crass and annoying. He’s messy, talkative, scatter-brained. The list goes on and on and on. So why would Eddie want him? Sure, Eddie isn’t a walk in the goddamn park himself. He still gets too easily riled up, sometimes he psyches himself out, and he jumps to conclusions. But even on his worst day, Eddie is still a thousand times better than Richie ‘Trashmouth’ Tozier. So no, he will never believe that Eddie actually feels the same way about him because that’s the biggest load of horseshit that he’s ever heard. He’s content with just silently withering away, never letting Eddie know how much he actually loves him.

Well, he’s content with it when he’s not in a situation like this. In a situation where Eddie is literally overpowering Richie’s senses because Richie can smell Eddie’s shampoo, he can hear Eddie’s soft breaths, and he can feel Eddie from where he is partly positioned on his body. And it’s simultaneously too much and not enough, so Richie takes it a step farther and moves his arm as gently as he can so that he can wrap it around Eddie, pulling him closer.

Or at least, that was the goal. Because by attempting to do so, Richie accidentally bumps Eddie, causing him to stir.

_‘Fuck,’_ Richie thinks._ ‘God damn it, Rich, you fucked up. Now he’s going to wake up and realize how late it is and walk to his dorm, leaving you all alone when you could have spent the rest of the night sleeping together.’_

But that doesn’t happen after all. Because while Eddie does stir, he’s still half-asleep; he’s not completely coherent. If he were, he likely would have left like Richie thought.

But instead, Eddie’s grasp on Richie’s shirt gets tighter, accidentally pulling Richie’s shirt slightly up with it. He looks around in a sleep-drunk haze until his sight lands on Richie and he sighs and relaxes back into his previous position. “Richie,” he mumbles, seemingly as if he were reassuring himself that yes, Richie is still here and yes, they were still together.

And oh, god, does Eddie’s sleepy voice, lazily calling out Richie’s name, do something to Richie. It puts all these thoughts and dreams and fantasies of the two of them living together, _being_ together, into Richie’s head. He feels his heart clench at the mere idea of it.

“Yeah, Eds?” He says softly, hoping that Eddie will have just fallen back asleep in the few seconds that have passed. Nuzzling back into his previous spot before he gives up, Eddie begins shuffling around, trying to get comfortable. He stretches out his previously curled legs and lifts one up slightly so it rests on Richie’s far longer ones. Then he turns on his side completely, wrapping one arm around Richie’s midsection. But because Richie’s shirt had risen up moments before when Eddie tightened his grasp on it, all Eddie touches is Richie’s bare skin.

Richie’s overwhelmed with the warm touch of Eddie’s arm, so he isn’t really thinking when he places his own arm around Eddie, pulling him in farther because he just wants more, more, more.

The soft and gentle act causes Eddie to sigh yet again as he falls closer to unconsciousness, feeling safe and comfortable and whole. He can’t help but mumble out what he’s feeling. A quiet, but wholly distinct “Love you, Richie” slips out. And it’s not like this is any news. The entire friend group is always eager to express their love and care for one another. But this time, it just feels so different to Richie. Maybe because Eddie was half asleep and thus completely truthful with his words, not trying to hide anything; or maybe because this is the closest that Eddie’s been to Richie when he’s said it. For whatever reason, it carries a deeper meaning, and it pushes Richie to think that maybe, just maybe, Eddie does feel the same way about him.

Overcome with emotion, Richie doesn’t say anything back. He knows Eddie’s about to knock out anyways. What he does instead is kiss the top of Eddie’s head, putting as much love and tenderness in that one kiss as he possibly can. He hopes that one day, he can garner the courage to confess to Eddie. But until then, he’ll stay where he’s at. Right by Eddie’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> Will Richie do anything about his feelings for Eddie?  
Stay tuned, folks.
> 
> (that was a joke, i probably won't write a continuation to this lol. in all seriousness, though, this is the first fic that i've ever posted to ao3, so i'm very Nervous. please let me know if you liked this!)


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